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How 'Passengers' Is Even More Epic with This Perspective Change

Passengers follows two intergalactic travelers on a spaceship bound for another planet.

By Ghezal AmiriPublished 6 years ago 2 min read
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'Passengers' [Credit: Sony Pictures]

Disclaimer: This article contains major spoilers from Passengers.

Passengers, from #SonyPictures, follows two intergalactic travelers on a spaceship bound for another planet, who awaken with 90 years left to go in their journey and no way to go back into cold sleep. The film initially follows the affable Jim (#ChrisPratt), who is the first to awaken from his induced hibernation. He spends a long year alone, with only the ship's facilities and a friendly robotic bartender (#MichaelSheen) for company.

'Passengers'[Credit: Sony Pictures]

Following his year alone and facing spending the rest of his life in solitude, Jim tangles with the moral and ethical responsibility of waking someone else to share his fate. Jim ultimately decides to awaken Aurora (#JenniferLawrence) and the film showcases their budding relationship until the moment Arthur the bartender reveals a twist the audience already knows: Aurora was brought out of sleep not by a mechanical malfunction, but by Jim.

'Troll 2' [Credit: MGM]

But What If The Entire Story Unfolded From A Different Perspective?

The first 30 minutes of Passengers focuses on Jim and how he spends his time after his early awakening. We get to connect with his character. We trust him because we have seen his struggle throughout the year as he wrestles with the possibility of waking up Aurora to spend the remaining decades of the trip with him.

However, the film would become a completely different ride if viewed from Aurora's perspective.

'Passengers'[Credit: Sony Pictures]

On repeat viewings, excluding Jim's perspective would allow the audience to view the ordeal through Aurora's eyes, as she is effectively completely foreign to the situation. She wakes up and sees this handsome man attempt to rationalize what is happening and that they are basically shit out of luck for the next 90 years. Jim earns the trust of Aurora (and the audience) throughout next few scenes and at this point we're totally rooting for these two to get together.

'Passengers'[Credit: Sony Pictures]

When the pair reaches the pinnacle moment of happiness - his marriage proposal - that is when the bomb of a twist drops and Arthur reveals Jim woke her up. Shifting to Aurora's perspective allows us to really feel the full depth of the trust that's been broken and the hurt she experiences because of how kind Jim has been throughout their time together in this isolated environment.

As the film reaches its climax, Jim may become vindicated as he is willing to risk his life to preserve the Avalon and enable Aurora's ability to induce hibernation in a medical pod. And yet, these moments are filled with tension, depression, elation, and distrust through her eyes.

Viewing the film this way offers another layer as the film builds toward Aurora learning the truth and brings in an additional element of excitement to this romantic romp through the galaxy.

Check out the trailer for Passengers below:

What do you think? Would you have preferred to see the film from another point of view? Let me know in the comments below.

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About the Creator

Ghezal Amiri

Afghan-Canadian writer who enjoys witty quips and BTS, proper grammar and Jodie Comer.

I tweet with @MrsBananaPhone because it's the best and beats the rest.

I also have designs: https://www.teepublic.com/user/designingsimple

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